tootsiescurly

On 1/30/2024 at 1:35 PM, stobe1 said:

The interior part of Havana bar is always open to everyone. The exterior part of Havana bar is for the exclusive use of those staying in the Havana area.

It is also available to those in suites , as well as those who book Havana cabins which are not located on Deck 5.

Thank you!

Where is the suite breakfast on Navigator OTS. Is it the same quality as the suite breakfast on Princess?

2 hours ago, jcl410 said:

I have a similar cord (but 3 prong, 3 feet) I've done 14 cruises on RCI over the last 15 years. It was only confiscated one time. (in  San Juan, PR in 2022) <shrug> you never know

 

 

Aloha,

 

John 

Was it in your luggage or carry on?

It doesn't really say anything about adapters. We are sailing on a Voyager class ship. The outlets, unless you have an adapter, are not plentiful.

4 minutes ago, scubaslayer said:

1. Which ship? Yes you can request DI water and an extension cord. There is also a special needs request form you can do that should have it in the room when you arrive but that has been hit or miss for us. On Oasis class and higher, there is a plug on one side of the bed. Our CPAP has a long enough cord that it was not an issue to plug in and run the cord behind the bed to the other side.

Thank you. We are on a Voyager class ship. It appears as though there is a European plug by the bed. We have a couple of voltage converters.

My husband uses a CPAP. Can we request an extension cord from the room steward on day 1 or do you pack an extension cord? We are in a 2 bedroom Grand Suite. Are there sufficient outlets in the large bedroom?

Thank you for any advice. 

The next 2 days were sea days as our first stop was Puerto Vallarta. The weather was not warm so we spent the day sitting around the Havana Pool talking to people. The second night we had dinner at Fahrenheit 555. There have been many changes since our last trip on Carnival several years ago. They no longer make the Caesar Salad table side and they have eliminated sides like cream spinach. No big deal but the table side salad was missed. My husband and I ordered the ribeye. Both steaks had gristle. I ordered mine med rare. It came rare. The server remedied the situation which was greatly appreciated. Any bottle of wine under $100 was 50% off on the second night of the cruise. We bought 2 bottles of the Duckhorn Merlot, one for dinner, another for the remainder of the cruise.

Day 3 was spent much like day 2. The weather was still a bit cold so the pool was not an option. We attended the Chef's Table for dinner. Be aware, the price of the Chef's Table has gone down because rather than serving a different wine with every course, they are now only pouring the house wine. We had prepaid the Chef's Table. Carnival charged the new price without informing us. According to guest services, the prepaid amount was to be refunded to the original card used for the purchase. I have not seen the refund. Why they couldn't give us a credit for the difference is beyond me. The Chef's Table has become another cost cutting area. Our past experiences were much better. We will not participate in the future. It simply wasn't worth the cost.

Day 4 - Puerto Vallarta

We were in Puerto Vallarta from 9 AM to 9 PM. We booked aTaco and Tequila tour with Vallarta Mexology Tours. It was outstanding. We visited 5 restaurants, a taco stand, and a churro vendor. It was a wonderful tour. We experienced the charm of this beautiful Mexican city and the food. I highly recommend this tour but understand it is a walking tour. We would book this again in a heartbeat!

Day 5 - Mazatlan

We booked a  city tour with Freddy's Tours. We had been to Mazatlan in the past but our friends had not. He hit all the historical spots. We stopped at La Puntilla for lunch. Lunch was very good and reasonably priced. After lunch, we spent an hour at a resort on the beach. It was an enjoyable day.

Day 6 - Cabo

Cabo was a short stop. We were there from 6:30 AM to 2:30 PM. I went out to sit our balcony at about 7 AM. It was a beautiful day so I got my husband up to tender into Cabo. We decided to go to the Office for breakfast on Medano Beach. We ordered breakfast and spent some time in the water. It was lovely out. The waiter came out with a bottle of Tequila which he said they only sell at the Office. He wanted to know if we wanted to purchase a bottle. The cost of the bottle was $150 US. We passed. Little did we know that the 2 shots we each had and our Margaritas were made using this tequila. Our bill came out to $210 US without tip. It was a very expensive breakfast but we had a great time so no complaints.

We Ubered to Long Beach to avoid the nightmare traffic at the port of Long Beach. Those departing on the Panorama had to park offsite. It was much easier to Uber there as we live about 10 miles North. We are both Platinum and had booked a suite thus we were in the priority line. Embarkation was quick and efficient once they allowed people into the dome. We were on board by 11:15. We headed to our cabin to leave our carry-on luggage. Our suite was ready as were our sail and sign cards. What wasn't there were our wristbands for the Havana Pool. Off to guest services to retrieve our wristbands. 

A note regarding our Grand Suite. We were basically unimpressed with the suite. It is smaller than suites on the other Carnival ships we have sailed. It was basically a larger balcony stateroom with the television acting as the room separator. The bathroom was nice as it had a tub/shower. It also had a large walk-in closet. Our cruise 6 months prior was on Princess. We had a Vista Suite which was large and spacious in comparison. This is kind of like comparing apples and oranges so I will leave it at that. 

Rather than proceeding to the Lido for buffet lunch, we decided to have lunch the Pig and Anchor. Guy's barbecue is free on embarkation and sea days. We were not impressed. The best part of the meal were the sauces and coleslaw. We did not return there on the sea days. My favorite was the Southern Peach. It is a cocktail made with Bourbon and peach nectar. It was very tasty.

Our friends boarded around 12:30. We met them and proceeded to the Havana Pool Bar. The pool area is very nice. It was wonderful to have an area less congested than the other pool and hot tub areas. The bartenders, servers, and staff in this area were very friendly and attentive. The drinks were very good. The pool was cold on the sea days but very pleasant once we were in the sunshine of Mexico. The music, albeit loud, in the evening was very upbeat. We really enjoyed the lounge in the Havana Bar on sea days. It was an outstanding place to play Rummikubb. They had 2 very nice game tables available which we took advantage of. 

We had reservations at Cucina the first night. The food was very good.I highly recommend the Branzino, Pork Chop, and Eggplant Parm. They will give you any of the pasta dishes or eggplant as a side. They also offered a free bottle of house wine or 50% off any wine under $100 on the wine list. The wine selection was very good. We opted for the house wine. We got a bottle of house red and white. There were 4 of us which allowed us a free bottle per couple.

To be continued...

5 hours ago, pblack said:

Hubby and I leave on Carnival Panorama next Saturday 5/25. I still haven't heard anything official from Carnival regarding the parking situation. I have read through trip reports saying that Panorama guests need to park off site at the convention center. Is this true? What's the process for it? 

 

Currently debating trying to get a cruise and stay package or even parking at the airport and then ubering over instead of parking at the port. 

They will send you instructions next week sometime.

11 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

 

Thanks so much! 

 

 

I hope so too. He was just talking about it again yesterday. The marine life in PV was s

 

 

 

 

Really? Is it clear enough to really see? I hadn't read anything about diving there when I was researching. Some people mentioned Mazatlan, over by Deer Island, but it seemed to be a hit or miss on whether you'd get clear water or not. If I would have known La Paz was good diving I would have probably found a place there so that we would have been able to do one of the other places I had on my list to do in PV. 

 

 

Aww thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it. 

 

I will definitely get to ROTN one day. As far as booking on a land trip. I found that the only place that takes you there was Vallarta Adventures and I had emailed them about something else (asking if they did a discover scuba because they had it listed on their website). They responded those on cruise ships needed to book with the cruise line to assure getting back in time and blah blah blah with a bunch of other information that had nothing to do with what I had asked them. Then said "I hope this answers your questions". I responded back that it answered none of my questions and also about the ROTN with no response. 😕  So I gave up on doing anything with them.

 

Several dive shops, while on vacation, have told us if we didn't want to get certified there's another level to it that we can obtain that would let us dive without having to do the class each time but yet not be completely open water certified (I can't remember the name, others on here have mentioned it too). I've checked into it once before with our local shops and they all said it's about the same price as getting certified and you still do all the classes/modules that becoming certified does except maybe one of two of them. So they always act like they don't want to do the class and try to convince you to just "go all the way". So, I always just drop it. Although we've been down to 70' before, I still have no desire to go any deeper than 40', do any night dives, go without an instructor/guide or anything else. I'm perfectly happy with what I'm doing now. So the class they are talking about would be perfect for us...if only we could just do that. 

Yes, the water is beautiful. You can dive with the sea lions. They also have plentiful fish, dolphins, and whales. The first time we flew in there the beauty of the water made me very excited. Worth a try. There are several great dive operations there - The Dive Gurus, Fun Baja, and The Cortez Club. Luke Inman who owns the Dive Gurus is awesome. I did my open water dives with him.

On 5/13/2024 at 3:31 PM, mitsugirly said:

FINAL THOUGHTS:

 

Whew what a trip. I love "firsts"! I have been saying I'm expanding my travel horizon...except not on the Horizon but on the Panorama this time.

 

I have to say this was definitely different than what I had expected. I expected to have some chilly weather here and there. I expected to have cooler water temps. I expected to not have blue water. 

 

But I don't think I really expected it to be THAT cold for THAT many days during the trip.  I definitely didn't think the sea water would as cold as it was either. For a family that lives in the water...I'm pretty sure it threw me into depression. The color of the water...I was actually pleasantly surprised for the most part. It was definitely pretty (except for the green cloudy water during scuba). With it being so cold outside, it made it impossible to use the pools or the water slides, which we really wanted to do but wasn't willing to take on all the shivering afterwards. 

 

So my conclusions on cruising the Mexican Riviera...I will NEVER go again for Spring Break. It's just too cold for my liking. I WILL go back however, maybe during the summer, warmer months.

 

The PORTS:

 

CABO: I really had the most amazing time here. Seeing the show the whales put on is at the top of my list (and yes I have a very long list) of one of the most exciting things we've done. Never in my life have I experienced this and I highly recommend going during whale season. You won't be disappointed. If it's not whale season, taking a boat ride over to the arch, past the sea lion colony and pelican rock is still a great thing to experience. I really hope some day to go back and make it to Lovers/Divorce Beach. It looked a lot more beautiful than Pelican Beach. 

 

LA PAZ: I guess there's not a lot of beach choices for beach-y people like us but the one that we went to was definitely beautiful along with everything around it. Had the water been warmer, we would have definitely stayed longer and enjoyed our time there. Walking around the Malecon was beautiful and all of the statues they have there makes for a good day of exploring the area. Had the statues not been there, well I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it at all. The free bus service is an added plus and super simple to use...even with a long line, it moved rather quickly I thought. Hopefully they will continue this service.

 

MAZATLAN: Going to the aquarium was a good day/choice of things to do. It might seem a little on the expensive side to visit such a place, but we enjoyed ourselves and it gave us something interesting to do. I'm still amazed at the parrots that flew so far and managed to come back. The sea lion show was good, despite not being able to understand what they were saying. The aquarium itself, which is the highlight of the place, had so many aquatic animals to see and it was definitely worth it. Walking along the Malecon afterwards was pretty as well with the waves crashing against the rocks, various statues, and visiting the "Beatles" area was unique and great opportunities for pictures. I'm sad that we missed the cliff diving so we may have to give that another shot on a different trip.

 

PUERTO VALLARTA: If you have a chance to either snorkel or scuba at Los Arcos...you MUST go. Simply amazing. I've never witnessed anything like that before...even in Roatan. You won't see the beautiful coral as you would in the Caribbean but the traffic jam of fish definitely makes up for that! All the unique fish we've never seen in the past...so many firsts for us!  If you ever want to see a puffer fish...THIS IS YOUR PLACE!!  I have to make note of that unclear green water on the swim there though is less than desirable. Just saying...   Of course all the things I said I had on my list do to...I'm definitely going to have to return here one way or another (either by ship or land vacation). I will one day make it to Bandaras Bay/Marietta Islands some day and I will make it to Las Caletas Beach (during the day) to experience what a beautiful place it seems to be and also going back at night for Rhythms of the Night. On my bucket list of things to do for sure!!!

EMBARKATION: It was super simple and super fast, other than our blooper of not printing off our boarding passes on separate pieces of paper. Oops. I'll know next time to change my printer settings. I know people have said it was a cluster...but our experience was totally opposite. Maybe it was because we were a little late to arrive at our scheduled time and we were catching the tail end of our group going in? The traffic...well, that's another story. People are not lying when they say they waited in traffic to get there...forever!

 

DEBARKATION: It was a lot slower than getting on for sure. But, we were constantly moving for the most part and it was super easy to walk up to security, scan your beautiful face, then walk on out. 

 

THE SHIP: Oh the ship. What a beautiful and clean ship she was. With over 4000 people on it, and during Spring Break, I have to say I was a little skeptical about how crowded it would be. I had read that the flow of the ship makes it feel like there are not as many people on there with you...and people were right. We never really felt overly crowded and needless to say, I was shocked. It was pretty comfortable. The elevators, I think during the muster drill, there needs to be a short presentation on how to use them so that everyone knows...push the button for as many people as you have in your party and life will go so much better. The non-existent bar in the casino was definitely an issue and if this is going to be what they do, they need more bartenders running around. The service was terrible and those people were running around trying to please everyone. I definitely didn't get my "free drinks on us" from the casino as much as I had planned. 

 

OUR ROOM: Our room steward was great. Always cleaned everything nicely and even left clean towels...even when we would hang them back up saying we'd use them again. He always spoke to us in the hallway and was always pleasant. He brought me ice daily and even gifts we had no idea where they came from...too bad it wasn't something we could use. LOL We were excited to see a new towel animal each day. We definitely picked the right side of the ship to be on while cruising and I was happy about that. 

 

The shows: Ehh, they were ok but not as good as other ships we have been on. I felt like only a few of the singers could really sing. They were all very energetic though and put on quite the show so props for that. My favorite was the show with the drones. The comedian was good and we enjoyed him. Jonathon Timpanelli has an AMAZING voice and we liked his show. Tenna Torres had an amazing voice as well...just it wasn't an interesting show. 

 

THE FOOD: To us, it was a hit or miss. Some days were good and others not as good. This is in the buffet. I mean it kept us alive, but.... Now the MDR the food was always good but the service was a hit or miss. You win some then you don't. The Dr Suess Breakfast just wasn't the same and I will not do that again...especially for the price. We all know the JiJi story so I'll let that be.

 

THE PARTIES: They were all fantastic and Dion knows how to get the party going. He is entertaining, can really sing and dance and we had a blast. Just the repeated singing at the end after the music stopped and him getting carried away was only funny the first few times. Just saying... His announcements that always started out with "Heyyyy yaaaaaaa'lllll. I sAid Hey" got to be a little annoying...especially when my kids would non-stop say it after the first few days. I've heard enough Hey ya'll's to last a lifetime by now. Of course our absolute favorite party was the Silent Party. We will always seek this out now for sure.

 

 

THE PHOTOGRAPHERS: I normally don't mention them too often but they were amazing and took so many pictures that you are sure to get a good one that you liked. Bravo! It wasn't a click one and done type of deal. 

 

FLYING INTO/OUT OF LONG BEACH: We absolutely loved it. I love small airports. It seemed to run efficiently and didn't seem too crowded. I will probably always do this when I take a cruise out of here. 

 

HOTEL: We really enjoyed our stay at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach. It was a beautiful hotel. We loved the location and being within walking distance to almost anything we needed. It was an added plus that they had the swan boats there as well. Even though it was colder than all get out, it was fun. The staff there was so amazing and friendly and the room was clean. There was only the one blooper with no electric during the middle of the night (although I should have been in bed sleeping) but management did reach out to me via email after our trip apologizing and told me there was some type of outage in the area and it had never happened before. Of course I did get a discount during check out so I was happy about that. I would 100% stay here again in the future. 

 

That's all I can think of right now. It's been a busy day at work and my brain is spent for the day. If you have any questions, please let me know and I'll try to answer them the best I can. 

 

Yes, I will be back to the Mexican Riviera. Yes, I will repeat this cruise some day in warmer weather. Until then...it had me wanting to head back to the Caribbean. 😄

 

 

I'm looking into doing a land vacation next. Probably some time in August. So many things swirling around in my head for options:

 

Curacao

Bonaire

Anguilla

Dominican Republic

Turks & Caicos

Costa Rico 

 

Some of these Southwest fly to and others do not. Sometimes that's a factor on what we decide...sometimes not depending on the price. 

 

We were looking at a few older vacation photo's with Karl and he loved the idea of trying out a SeaTrek walk too. They do have them in Curacao, Anguilla, DR. But he's just excited to go anywhere again at this point. All he has talked about it trying scuba again. I told him I think I'm going to take him to the local dive place here (where Sakari first took her PADI seal diving classes when she was 8 years old) and have him to a few Discover Scuba Dives there in the pool to get used to it and actually SEE what he's supposed to be doing. I think that will help him a lot. 

 

Until our next adventure...HAPPY CRUISING!!

 

The diving in La Paz is awesome! I did my open water cert there. We have gone back several times!

On 5/4/2024 at 9:04 PM, vwrestler171 said:

I wouldn't book an excursion to go to Stone Island.  Its a 30 min walk and a $2 water taxi to get there.  Then you can find the spot you want to be.  We found a spot about 1/2 way down the beach and sat there all day.  4 of us had roughly 20 drinks, some chicken tacos and a molcajete and it was only $60.  

I have a torn tendon in my ankle. Having been to Mazatlan several times in the past, I know the water taxis well. I also know that walking on the sidewalks and beach there may be an issue because of my ankle. We have always done a private tour in the past but the tour provider we used is no longer in business. We will probably take a taxi to Joe's Oyster Bar.at the Gaviana. 

On 5/3/2024 at 3:24 PM, Kelownabccan said:

A few weeks ago we were on it.....ship arrived at about 9:30 ish.....might have been faster but another HAL ship there so second in line up......got off about 10:15......then had to take a shuttle to the main entry area and shops....took another 20 min as trying to unload two ships at the same time....

 

so a crap shoot for you....would not book anything before 11 I would think

Thank you. 

13 minutes ago, carohs said:

the information is on your itinerary. It's not a tender port so you'll be off the ship the earliest at whatever time is listed on your itinerary. 

I realize there is a listed time however our past experience says the ship can be cleared earlier. I want to hear from individuals who have taken this cruise recently.

We will be in Mazatlan later this month. We would like to go on a tour with Mazatlantours.org to Stone Island. Will we be off the ship by 10AM?

23 hours ago, Ranyw said:

 

Hello, I can do one better,  Here is a copy of our receipt.  I believe at the time $1 US dollar was about 15.6 Mexican Pesos.

 

This seems very expensive for what  you ordered.

I live at the beach in Southern California. Believe me, I know more about the 405 Freeway and the logistics of event traffic than most people. It is part of living in the greater LA area.

On 4/18/2024 at 5:48 PM, kwokpot said:

I hope you're not on this Saturday,April 20th sailing. The Long Beach Grand Prix is taking place starting tomorrow and it's going to be gridlock in this area. I'm staying at the Residence Inn on the same island as the Carnival cruise terminal and planning just to walk to the terminal. We're making backup plans for dinner by reserving a table at the restaurant in the adjacent Maya Hotel,which is actually even closer to the Carnival terminal. While we can walk across a bridge to the LB downtown waterfront area that's where the Grand Prix is located and there will be thousands of people here all day and night starting tomorrow.

I live 20 miles from Long Beach. You wouldn't catch me anywhere near Long Beach this weekend.

What has the parking been like recently on embarkation day? I heard it sometimes difficult we are debating using Uber/Lyft. Also, was the current daily cost for parking?

17 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

The aft wrap and aft view get access to the HC pool area.  All guestsa can go to the bar (inside)

Suites get access as well.

1 hour ago, Tree_skier said:

What ship... It makes a difference.

Grand Suite on Navigator

17 hours ago, George C said:

I dislike how perks change depending on ship , on Celebrity basic perks are the same , suite restaurant and suite lounge open all day not just a 3 hour happy hour.

The same on Princess. We are in a grand suite.

Do suites get the same amenities as those who purchase the Key?

You're welcome!